La Mala, among the top 100 cellar selection in Wine Enthusiast

La Mala, one of the three single-vineyard wines made in Bodegas Dominio de Atauta (D. O. Ribera del Duero), has been included in the list of the world’s 100 best wines in the US magazine Wine Enthusiast. The selection includes wines from the world’s major wine regions that have been chosen from among the nearly 1,000 wines that have been tasted throughout the year. The final objective is “to help the consumer to create an interesting personal winery with wines that can mature and evolve over the next 10, 15 and even 20 years.”

Regarding La Mala 2011, Michael Schachner, a New York-based journalist who writes about the wines of Spain, Argentina and Chile in the magazine, mantains that “of all the Atauta single-vineyard wines from the sensational 2011 vintage, La Mala is arguably the most overtly oaky and modern in style”.

The three single-plot wines that are produced at Bodegas Dominio de Atauta -La Mala, Valdegatiles and Llanos del Almendro- have been born with the aim of faithfully showing the potential of the Tinto Fino and the different expressions that this variety can achieve when cultivated on different soil profiles within the same area. In this case, the area in which these wines are made is the Atauta Valley, a gem for viticulture with a five century tradition in winemaking. Despite its small size (4km long and 1km Wide), Atauta Valley offers a variety of soils and conditions that allows you to explore all the possibilities of the variety. The common characteristic in the whole valley is the presence of calcareous rock that contributes an extraordinary minerality to the wines.

The Dominio de Atauta single-plot wines have been often considered among the best wines in Ribera del Duero by the Spanish and international wine magazines. Recently Wine&Spirits magazine also considered La Mala among the 3 best wines of Ribera del Duero, while Wine Advocate also highlighted the quality of La Mala, a wine made from a vineyard with very low yields and that brings a huge concentration.

Bodegas Dominio de Atauta is located at the begining of the Duero river, in the province of Soria, one of the most unknown areas of the Ribera del Duero. The winery has been part of Avanteselecta since 2009, a wine company that produces wines in the main Spanish Appellations of Origin.